The present invention relates to a crimp press for the production of a crimping connection by means of a driven crimp device, which device connects a cable end with a crimping contact, whereby a grip arm supplies the cable end to the crimp press and a positioning unit vertically moves the grip arm during the crimping operation.
The closing height SH (shut height) of the crimp device, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is standardized and amounts, for example, to 135.8 mm. The vertical insertion position of the crimping contact can vary however, depending upon construction and manufacturer, up to approximately 5 mm. The cable feeder, being for example for swivelling machines with a swivel arm having a grip arm at the free end, brings the stripped cable in position some millimeters over the crimping zone, respectively over the crimping claws of an open crimping contact. When downwards moving the crimping stamp (usually one crimping stamp for the cable sheath and for the insulation), the grip arm of the swivel arm must be moved simultaneously with the crimping stamp of the crimp device (driven for example by means of an eccentric and a drive) downwards against a compression spring. Be that not the case, or be that too inaccurate (more than about 2 mm of deviation), the so-called insertion depth (correct position of the cable for the crimping contact) will vary correspondingly, because the cable, during the crimping operation, is either stretched or tossed between the crimping contact and the grip arm and that can lead to inadmissible quality losses.
The positioning units used so far consist of a handle (fastened to the carriage or to the tool holder) and a screw, made of synthetic material, with long shank with lock nut. The eccentric press is driven to the being arranged mode (manual over hand-wheel at the motor shaft or in creep speed) to the lower dead center position. In this position, the screw is adjusted opposite to the grip arm of the swivel arm in such a way that the cable exhibits a clearance to the fixed crimping anvil of approximately the plate thickness of the crimping contact. Afterwards, the screw is fastened by means of the lock nut.
A crimp press is shown the U.S. Pat. No. 6,266,870 by means of which a terminal of a cable is connectable with a crimping contact. The cable end is supplied by means of a grip arm to the crimp press, whereby the cable end is positioned above the crimping zone of the crimping contact and the crimping zone leans on an anvil. During the crimping operation, a positioning unit is moved along with the crimping device, whereby the positioning unit lowers the grip arm holding the cable end. At the same time, the cable end will be inserted into the open crimping zone before the crimping stamps of the crimping device produce the crimping connection. In addition, the positioning unit can be moved out from the grip arm area, if crimping contacts with closed crimping areas are processed.
A disadvantage of this well-known installation is that the positioning unit, for a specific type of contact and for a specific crimping device, is mechanically firmly adjusted.